Jewish History following the destruction of the Second Temple by Rome has been represented as a history of wandering and homelessness, in which place could not matter because the sacred Jewish place had been left behind. Besides, as Abraham Joshua Heschel argued, Jews build sanctuaries in time, not in space. However, building on his new book Rabbinic Judaism: Space and Place, Dr. Kraemer argues that space and place remained central to Judaism even during its exile. He demonstrates that the "homes" of Judaism were central to Jewish practice throughout the centuries, even before Zionism returned the focus of Judaism to its ancient home.

Mr. Miller puts the film in historical context. He is the Co-Author of Refuge Denied: The St. Louis and the Holocaust, which focuses on the ship of German-Jewish refugees that was famously sent back to Europe in 1939, and the Holocaust Museum's ten-year mission to trace the fate of every single passenger aboard the ship.

Speaker: Dr. Melvin Urofsky, Professor of History and Director of Doctoral Program in Public Policy and Administration, Virginia Comonwealth University

Program Series: Rabbi Joshua O. Haberman Distinguished Scholar Series

Location: B'nai Israel Congregation, Rockville, MD

Date: September 18, 2016

It's now been over 100 years since Louis D. Brandeis was confirmed as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and three-quarters of a century since his death. Yet his ideas and achievements continue to influence our lives today. His activities as a lawyer, a reformer, and a Zionist are as relevant today as they were in his lifetime, and his jurisprudence - especially in the areas of free speech and privacy - is still cited in contemporary court decisions. In his talk, Dr. Urofsky looks briefly at Brandeis's career in law, reform, and Zionism, and devotes the bulk of his lecture to the continuing importance of Justice Brandeis's constitutional ideas.